Smoke billows from the Santa Catalinas as the Bighorn Fire continues to burn as seen from Highway 79, on June 17, 2020.

A new section of the Mount Lemmon area, including Willow Canyon, has been given evacuation orders amid the Bighorn Fire, which has nearly doubled in size since Tuesday.

The area includes lower Catalina Highway and lower Mount Lemmon communities from Organization Ridge Road to South Willow Canyon. Find a full map here.

Officials urge people in the area to move south on Catalina Highway and leave the mountain.

Deputies with the Pima County Sheriff's Department will be going door to door to contact residents. An evacuation center is open at Sahuaro High School, 545 N. Camino Seco.

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office also issued an evacuation notice for residents in the area of Peppersauce Canyon to Highjinks Road and Campo Bonito. The northern flank of the fire is heading toward the town of Oracle, which as been placed in the "set" category.

The Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Red Cross has re-opened an evacuation center at Canyon del Oro High School, 25 W. Calle Concordia.

A separate evacuation order was issued Tuesday for areas including Summerhaven and Mount Bigelow. That evacuation order remained in place Thursday.

More than 800 people are fighting the Bighorn Fire, which has grown to 31,208 acres and is at 40% containment as of Thursday morning. Upwards of 400 firefighters were in the Mount Lemmon area on Wednesday

As of Thursday morning, no structures in the Summerhaven community have been lost as efforts to keep the fire from the Mount Lemmon Sky Center Observatory and the western side of the village were successful.

According to Coronado National Forest officials, fire managers expect the fire to move north toward Charouleau Gap today.

Crews on Thursday will be working to tie together the two containment lines north of the fire perimeter to protect the communities of Oracle and San Manuel, offficials said.

Evacuation alerts for the Oro Valley area from Catalina State Park south to West Magee Road and the Tucson Foothills area from North First Avenue east to North Alvernon Way, which were formerly on “set,” were downgraded to “ready” Wednesday. This is part of the state's "Ready, Set, Go" evacuation system. 


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Contact reporter Gloria Knott at gknott@tucson.com or 573-4235. On Twitter: @gloriaeknott